Kobe Bryant Leaving Lakers? No Contract Extension Talks As Black Mamba Refuses To Take Pay Cut

Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant's contract is expiring this season. You would think that the Lakers management would be in a huff to lock his extension, but they're not budging. There's a serious clamor for Kobe to take a pay cut to make the team better, but the Black Mamba won't budge.

Kobe Bryant is the highest paid player in the NBA, and his contract is in his last year. He will bankroll $30.45 million  for this season, even though he might spend most of it recovering from a torn Achilles suffered last season.

The L.A. Lakers, as all NBA teams, operate under a salary cap which will be pegged at       $62.5 million. If Kobe demands his maximum rate, he will get a 5% increase from his current salary. That means he will consume half of the team's salary cap. When this happens, the Lakers will not have any more room to pursue prime free agents to improve their team. Next year will have the biggest possible free agent market in history with Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and other big names up for grabs.

Kobe desperately wants to win his sixth championship to tie Michael Jordan. It was presumed that he would take a pay cut in order to be teamed up with one of those big names and have a vastly improved Laker team. However, in an interview with Lakers Nation, he says otherwise: "I'm not taking any at all-that's the negotiation that you have to have. For me to sit here and say, 'Oh yeah, I'm just going to take a huge pay cut.' Nah, I'm going to try to get as much as I possibly can."

This does not augur well for the Lakers' future. They already lost Dwight Howard to free agency before the summer. If they lose their franchise player who has been with them since his rookie season 17 years ago, it would be a catastrophe.